How Google's Calico aims to fight aging and 'solve death'

By Arion McNicoll, for CNN

Updated 6:47 AM ET, Thu October 3, 2013

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Photos:The death of death?

The death of death? – Since the early twentieth century life expectancy has improved in most parts of the world. But what if life could be extended past its current boundaries? In this gallery, CNN Labs takes a look at some of the current research being done into life extension. First up, cryonics -- a discipline where a person's body is preserved in low temperatures, often using liquid nitrogen, in the hope of resuscitating them in the future. Here, the head of the Russian cryonics firm KrioRus, Danila Medvedev, looks inside a low-temperature human storage unit just outside Moscow.

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Photos:The death of death?

Putting it on ice – Extremely low temperatures are also used in cryotherapy -- a medical treatment that has gained currency with a number of international sports teams. Here, French soccer player Franck Ribery is immersed in a cryotherapy tank, subjecting the body to temperatures as low as minus 256 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 160 Celsius). Cryotherapy aims to decrease pain and inflammation and aid healing.

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Photos:The death of death?

Small problems, big solutions – Nanotechnology is a relatively new discipline that some scientists hope will have multiple applications to healthcare. Ray Kurzweil, an American futurist says that in his view by the 2020s, it may become possible to deploy tiny robots (or 'nanobots') through the body to overcome the problems of incorrect DNA replication -- one of the central causes of aging. In this photo, a student in the nanotechnology research and education center at the University of South Florida, looks through a microscope.

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Photos:The death of death?

Hormone treatment – Early research into the effects of growth hormones on mice suggests various kinds of hormonal treatment may help to increase life expectancy. It is not yet known whether the results will be transferable to humans, but some hormone therapies have already made it to market.

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Photos:The death of death?

Stemming the tide – Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have been experimenting with stem cell treatments, injecting rapidly aging mice with a shot of young stem cells to make them live dramatically longer, healthier lives. "Our experiments showed that mice that have progeria, a disorder of premature aging, were healthier and lived longer after an injection of stem cells from young, healthy animals," Dr Laura Niedernhofer who led the experiment told Science Daily. "That tells us that stem cell dysfunction is a cause of the changes we see with aging."

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Photos:The death of death?

Fresh-faced – According to a report by Global Industry Analysts the global anti-aging products market will be worth $291.9 billion by 2015. Every year in the U.S. alone, those fearing the inevitable signs of aging invest over $50 billion in skin care solutions. One of the more effective services is skin rejuvenation therapy or photorejuvenation in which a laser is used to induce controlled wounds on the skin, which then heals by creating new, wrinkle-free cells.

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Photos:The death of death?

Mind uploading – The premise behind "mind uploading" is that if you can't keep your body, at least you can keep your brain. Some might even see this as the ideal. Extensive research is underway: The process would involve the precise mapping of a conscious mind onto a computer, allowing it to be reused, either in a humanoid robot or biological body. The Brain Preservation Foundation is offering a prize to promote exploration in this field. It calls for scientists to try and fully map a mouse brain and then a larger animal brain in such a way that could be used to "reboot" a mind in virtual space.

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Photos:The death of death?

Is this the end? – Telomeres are the ends of a chromosome that protect cells against degradation. According to researchers if we can work out a way to preserve telomeres, then we would be another step closer to defeating aging. Dr Aziz Aboobaker from Nottingham University's School of Biology, said: "Usually when stem cells divide -- to heal wounds, or during reproduction or for growth -- they start to show signs of aging. This means that the stem cells are no longer able to divide and so become less able to replace exhausted specialized cells in the tissues of our bodies. Our aging skin is perhaps the most visible example of this effect."